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Moai 200 Leveling

The steps here are for Moai 200 only, for the Original Moai, use this Moai leveling guide

How to level

Moai 200 is assembled and leveled at the factory so you do not need to level to start printing unless instructed by support staff.

This page breaks down into 2 parts. 1. Level Check and Adjust 2. Full leveling reset (optional)

For most users, level checks and if needed, adjust instruction is enough to get great leveling. Please only do full leveling reset when leveling checks fail at all corners. It would be best to speak with your reseller support or Peopoly Support first.

Leveling Check and Adjust

  1. Check your firmware z-reset setting. It should be 2570
  3. It is best to have heater enabled.
  4. Set laser power according to exposure recommendation. See data under “Moai 200 Laser Setting”
  5. Print!

This GCode prints 9 cylinders with a total height of 11mm. There is lettering on top of each cylinder, identify its position on the Asura software platform:

The GCode takes about 40 minutes to print. When the 9 cylinders are done. It should look like the following:

  2. Clean each of the cylinders with Ethanol or IPA
  3. Use a caliper to measure the size of each cylinder and note which cylinder you are measuring (A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I). If there are missing cylinders, please make note of their letters. They are the most important ones that need to be taken care.


What do these cylinders and their length means means? For bottom-up SLA printer like Moai 200, how well the print is sticking to the build plate is critical to print success and the leveling process we are doing here is to achieve an optimal level of stickiness so the printer has high success rate without putting too much pressure on the vat. Here, the cylinder (pegs) length represents the amount of the pressure that is on the vat and the letterings identify the spots on the vat. The shorter the cylinder, the higher the pressure because the cylinder is being compressed more. Our goal is to have all 9 cylinders printed and their heights are between 9.5 - 10.5mm.

So how do we achieve that? First, let's talk about how to adjust the pressure at one corner. There are 4 screws on the vat, one at each corner. You can access them by opening the side door of Moai 200. The screws are at the A B C D spot corresponding to where the cylinders are printed.

*Adjust the nut directly underneath the vat corresponding to the letter.* This is how the screws will affect the height of cylinders:

For example, if cylinder “A” height is measured at 9.4mm and you want to get it to 9.75mm. Then you would tighten the nut under the “A” cylinder a 1/2 turn. Tightening screw is right turn on the screwdriver (clockwise), and it will reduce the pressure on the vat by lowering the vat. Loosening screw has the opposite effect and is left turn on the screwdriver (counterclockwise)

The measurement of the cylinders is a good indicator of how much pressure the build plate is putting on the vat. Taller cylinders mean less compression and shorter cylinders mean more compression. This set of numbers gives us a good idea about leveling in each corner.

The ideal plate pressure would lead to cylinders with 9.5 to 10.5mm height, with 10.3mm preferred height.

  • If it is over 10.5mm, that means there is not enough pressure on the print. You may find your print not sticking well and require extra laser power to be able to print
  • If it is under 9.5mm, that means there is too much pressure on the print. You may find your PDMS layer is wearing out faster than it normally would. In some cases, too much pressure on the PDMS layer causes artifacts and shifted layers.
  • With Moai 200's FEP vat, the change in cylinder height could be more than expected due to the hard vat plate. Do not worry if a half turn changes the cylinder height by more than 0.35mm. You will be still be able to get into the range.


How to correct the results

  • Tightening the nut will increase the height on the cylinder
  • Loosening the nut will decrease the height on the cylinder
If you have any corners failed
  • Adjust a particular corner by loosening 1/2 turn to increase pressure. For example, if A cylinder fails to print, adjust A screw. If E fails to print, then loosen A and B corners by 1/4 turn each.
  • Make sure the system settings match the recommended defaults. Do not adjust z-reset

Once you have the all 9 cylinders printed, you need to run the 2nd test print. Download here.

This allows to closer check for any zone that still has less pressure than needed for larger prints. If you have any particular zone still failing, loosen 1/4 turn in that corner to make it work. This is the same idea as the peg except now the peel force is stronger.

moai200/leveling.txt · Last modified: 2019/03/30 23:42 by peopoly